


Wave Maker

by vegetablebirb



Series: Tales of the West Kingdom [3]
Category: QCYN2, THE9 (Band), youth with you 2, 偶像练习生 | Idol Producer (TV), 青春有你2
Genre: Alternate Universe - Mermaid, Alternate Universe - Sea Witch, Chen Jue - Sea Witch, F/F, Romance, Sea Witch - Freeform, Shangguan Xi'ai - Sea Witch, Slow Burn, Some mentions of violence, Strangers to Lovers, Witch Trials, Xie Keyin - Mermaid, Yu Yan - Sea Witch, inspo from the Little Mermaid, mentions of character death(s), mermaid, mostly underwater setting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-19
Updated: 2020-12-28
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:55:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 12,552
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26666287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vegetablebirb/pseuds/vegetablebirb
Summary: Yu Yan is the most powerful sea witch across the Seven Seas. Land dwellers tell stories of her attacking ships and tearing apart the sailors aboard. Merfolk whisper rumors of Yu Yan doing unspeakable experiments on those that pass by her dwelling. One mermaid is determined to get her hands on a potion that will turn her tail into legs, and seeks out Yu Yan for help. Both the sea witch and the mermaid get a little more than they bargained for.
Relationships: Yu Yan/Xie Keyin
Series: Tales of the West Kingdom [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1710634
Comments: 6
Kudos: 15
Collections: Cloud 9 Fic Fest





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> another slow burn...buckle up

Shadows of ships dotted the surface of the water, clouding out the sunlight refracting through the water below. Yu Yan swam around the wreckage lying on the seafloor, trying to spot the other two members of her coven.

A glowing net pulled upward. And whatever was trapped inside would soon be at the mercy of the land dwellers. Yu Yan yanked her dagger out of its sheath and sawed futilely at the net. The fibers pulsed with mythical enchantment and the rough texture of the net bit unforgivingly into her hands.

Then her eyes fell on a familiar form squirming within the confines of the net. Yu Yan hurriedly swam over to the other girl.

“Xiai!” Yu Yan gasped and yanked desperately at the ropes.

Xiai’s eyes widened, “Yu Yan, are you insane? Get out of here!”

“No, I’m not going to leave you. This is all my fault!” She pulled harder at the nets, but they were impossible to break. “Where’s Chen Jue?”

Xiai just sadly shook her head.

Yu Yan wished she had something, anything! But they had been caught off guard today. Too careless. Too defenseless.

The net began to lift faster and the corners of Xiai’s eyes reddened, which meant she was crying. “Just tell my girl I’ll be waiting on the other side.”

Yu Yan shook her head stubbornly, and clung to the net, letting herself be pulled along.

“Yu Yan, let go!” The net was halfway out of the water now, and it was clear to whoever was onboard that they had caught something.

The net rose even faster. Xiai gritted her teeth, drew her hand back, and landed a smack on Yu Yan’s fingers. Yu Yan’s hands loosened with the sudden shock of pain and she tumbled back into the ocean with a splash, Xiai’s reassuring expression was the last look she would ever get to see from her beloved friend.

Yu Yan dove deep into the depths, but the cold currents didn’t stop her from feeling the broken coven bond pulse first through her left hand (Chen Jue) and then through her right (Xiai).

Her friends were gone.

And Yu Yan swore she would get revenge.


	2. The Little Mermaid

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [waves tentacles] Time Skip  
> The sea witch gets an unexpected visitor.

It was a slow Sunday afternoon that Yu Yan had set aside to brew this vat of dye so that she could try turning her hair into the deep maroon color she had always wanted.

A strong herbal smell filling her dwelling made Yu Yan sleepy. And the fire under her cauldron prickled Yu Yan’s skin with warmth, practically begging her to put the experiment off for another day and just take a nap.

The sea witch yawned and flicked through the ancient potions book floating in the water in front of her. Two of her tentacles kept busy by churning the potion in the vat.

_Plankton explosion. Boring._

_Current Churner. Already did that one._

_Seahorse magnet? What the heck-_

There was a knock at the door. First timid, then more confident. Several sharp raps in succession.

Yu Yan tensed.

She wasn’t expecting anyone. Hell, she was _never_ expecting anyone. Nearly everyone living both on land and in the seven seas knew better than to seek her out.

Granted, it could’ve been some foolish merfolk looking for trouble. Yu Yan tied a long skirt around her waist, concealing her tentacles. And tucked a dagger into the waistband. An element of surprise was always a nice advantage to have.

Yu Yan yanked the door open.

“What?” Yu Yan asked in the deadest voice she could muster. Her fingers traced the grip of the dagger sheathed behind her back.

Yu Yan’s eyes fell on a cheery face, brown hair framing it and waving just as cheerfully in the currents. Her eyes traced downwards to the visitor’s tail, which faintly glinted with pale grey scales. A mermaid.

“Are you the sea witch? I came to buy a potion,” the mermaid said eagerly. Her monochrome tail was practically vibrating with excitement.

Yu Yan flattened her expression further.

“You’ve come to the wrong place. I don’t exactly run a convenience store here,” Yu Yan retorted gesturing around the semi-cluttered workspace.

The mermaid pouted. Yu Yan fought the sudden urge to slam the door in her face. Instead, Yu Yan forced her hand to loosen its grip around the hilt of the dagger. Maybe the mermaid would have something worthwhile to offer.

“But I’m in love! Don’t you believe in love?” the mermaid implored, shooting forward into Yu Yan’s abode before the sea witch even allowed her in. Yu Yan scowled.

What was this bullsh1t? Did Yu Yan _look_ like a fairy godmother?

“Of course not,” Yu Yan snipped back.

Keyin gasped, scandalized. “How can you _not_ believe in love?”

Yu Yan shrugged. “I’m a sea witch.”

Yu Yan was getting annoyed by the mermaid’s optimism, so she shooed her unwanted visitor back out the door.

“I’m busy today,” Yu Yan said as she struggled to block the squirming mermaid from swimming back into her home.

“Maybe come back tomorrow when I’m not.” And she slammed the door shut.

Yu Yan knew she wouldn’t return. The mermaid would just go and brag to her friends how she went into the sea witch’s cave. And returned alive!

Yu Yan gawked in disbelief at the mermaid waiting on her doorstep the next morning.

She had actually come back. Which meant she was really desperate. Or really stupid.

The mermaid’s tail swished nervously and she clasped her hands together in front of her chest in the universal sign of pleading.

Yu Yan gritted her teeth and invited her in for tea. After all, she still hadn’t heard the mermaid’s offer yet. And she felt the barest trace of curiosity prickling across her scalp (or maybe it was just the hair dye).

The mermaid gingerly held the bottle of kelp tea and peered cautiously inside.

“Drink up,” Yu Yan prompted.

The mermaid hesitated.

Yu Yan rolled her eyes. “Look, how are you gonna down one of my potions if you can’t even trust the tea I’m serving you?”

The mermaid gulped, and uncapped the bottle holding it quickly to her lips before it escaped into the seawater around them. She squared her shoulders, squeezed her eyes shut, and drank it all in one go like she was throwing back a shot.

She blinked.

“Wow, this is actually...really good.” She held the bottle out to Yu Yan. “Can I have some more?”

Yu Yan tsked and refilled her bottle.

“So tell me...uh, what did you say your name was?”

The mermaid smiled and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

“The name’s Keyin. Xie. Ke. Yin.” She said, punctuating each syllable proudly.

Yu Yan took a loud sip of her own tea.

“Alright, Ms. Xie Keyin. Yu Yan suddenly leaned towards Keyin, startling her into letting out an _eep!_ “Why have you come all this way to find me?”

Yu Yan grinned wickedly. “Haven’t you heard the rumors about me, Angel Fish?”

Though the mermaid’s face remained passive, her quivering tail was a tell-tale sign of her nerves. But she hadn’t run screaming for the hills. Yet.

How refreshing.

“I- I heard rumors that you’re the most powerful witch on both land and in water.” Keyin crossed her trembling arms defensively. “And I don’t think we’re close enough for nicknames yet.”

Yu Yan smiled and swam a few paces back. Keyin’s breathing returned to normal. Hilarious.

“I give all my clients nicknames, Angel Fish.”

“I thought you didn’t sell potions; I’m your only client.”

Yu Yan shrugged, “So why are you here?”

Keyin rolled her eyes and proceeded with her explanation.

“Well, I was casually peeping the surface-”

“Hm, very dangerous. 10/10 would not recommend.”

“And there was this really cute land dweller.”

Yu Yan violently rolled her eyes.

“Please. I don’t believe in love. Let alone love at first sight,” the sea witch deadpanned.

Keyin pouted, “It’s not love at first sight. I’ve been...watching him from afar for some time.”

Yu Yan let out an unimpressed laugh, “You’re a fishy little stalker, aren’t you?”

Keyin’s face flushed.

“Am not!” Keyin scowled and crossed her arms over her chest like a child. “The point is, I need a potion to give me legs so I can go on land and be with the love of my life.”

Yu Yan scoffed, “Do you know how complicated a potion like that is, Angel Fish?”

She crowded into the mermaid’s space once more, even going so far to running a finger along Keyin’s jaw.

“Are you prepared to pay?” Yu Yan purred.

Keyin ceased to breathe again. Like. Yu Yan could literally see the gills on Keyin’s neck stop moving. The sea witch laughed.

“What do you want?” Keyin squeaked out.

“What’s most valuable of course.” Yu Yan traced her finger down to mermaid's throat.

Keyin swallowed nervously.

“M- my voice? What do you want that for?”

Yu Yan shrugged. Everyone in the seven seas knew that there was no stronger magic than a mermaid’s voice, which was known to grant a single wish in a dire situation. Basically a one use miracle. It could even bring someone back from the brink of death. To have that for backup...would be quite handy.

She wasn’t really sure what she would do with it. But if the mermaid was desperate enough to give it up…

Keyin stuck out her chin. “Deal.”

Yu Yan smiled.

“Pleasure doing business with you, Angel Fish”

Keyin looked ready to cry.


	3. Riptide

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yu Yan has gotten used to being lonely for the past few decades.  
> But she doesn't hate the mermaid's company

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll try to hop back on a weekly posting schedule.  
> However, this semester has been really taxing so pls bear with me T-T

“How much longer do I have to stir?” Keyin whined.

She flapped her tail, trying to fan her overheating body. The water around them churned from the force, but all Keyin managed to do was knock over the pot of squid ink Yu Yan had open on her desk for note taking purposes.

Yu Yan snatched her spellbook up before the ink could reach it and shot a glare at Keyin. The mermaid pouted and went back to dutifully stirring the contents of the cauldron.

The sea witch sighed. She motioned for Keyin to stop.

Yu Yan grabbed a clean cloth she had for dressing wounds and dabbed up the sweat congealing on the mermaid's brow. Keyin blinked at her with confusion in her eyes.

Well. It was technically not sweat (since they’re underwater). Mermaids secreted a weird jelly like substance when their bodies heated up to help with temperature regulation.

And that substance had magical properties.

Yu Yan lobbed the stained cloth into the bubbling cauldron. The fabric immediately dissolved and the potion sparked, turning a lavender hue.

Keyin clapped happily. “So pretty! Do I just drink it?”

Yu Yan raised an eyebrow. “Drink it?”

Keyin nodded eagerly, “It’s done isn’t it?”

Yu Yan laughed, “Oh no, my sweet summer child. We still need all these- ”

She rolled out the long list of required ingredients she’d been compiling. Keyin’s jaw dropped. “That- that’s gonna take months.”

Yu Yan frowned and shook her head, “No. Just two months tops. You ought to have _some_ confidence in me, Angel Fish.”

“TWO MONTHS?!”

Yu Yan shrugged and flicked her hand, and the wooden pole began stirring the cauldron on it’s own. Keyin’s open mouth widened further with disbelief.

“Excuse me?! You could do that and you still made me stir it for four hours?”

Yu Yan blinked innocently. “I needed your sweat though, didn’t I?”

Keyin huffed, tail stirring irritably. Yu Yan felt her tentacles curl with amusement underneath her skirt, secretly enjoying getting the mermaid all riled up.

At first, Yu Yan had tried to hold Keyin at an arm’s length. She knew Keyin would eventually be leaving to become a land dweller. Besides, Yu Yan had anticipated the mermaid would stop showing up after she realized she didn’t need to do anything (it was common knowledge that while merfolk had strong magic, most were narcissistic and lazy, wasting away at lavish parties and indulging in superficial trinkets).

But Keyin dutifully knocked on Yu Yan’s door around noon everyday (except the weekends), asking if she required any assistance with the potion. She supposed the mermaid just wanted to make sure the sea witch wasn’t slacking.

Once, Yu Yan had snarkily asked Keyin didn’t she have any family that would miss her with all the time she was spending over in Yu Yan’s home.

Keyin had replied with a solemn and singular “no”. Yu Yan never brought it up again.

Keyin was like a riptide, barging into Yu Yan life and tearing her away from mundane routine. The mermaid made her presence a constant in Yu Yan’s days. And it both enthralled and terrified Yu Yan.

It was enthralling because, for the first time in decades, Yu Yan wasn’t alone. She had someone to talk to. (Well, Keyin actually did most of the talking. Yu Yan just listened dutifully.) She missed her coven terribly, so it was nice to have some company.

It was terrifying because Yu Yan suddenly felt self conscious of her tentacles, afraid they would repulse the mermaid who’s scales flashed beautifully even in the dim light of the cauldron fire.

So despite the immense heat from the fire that was kept constantly burning for the potion, Yu Yan wore her long skirts everyday. She secretly envied Keyin’s form fitting bustiers which were probably less suffocating in the hot environment. (And if Yu Yan would let her eyes linger on the mermaid’s exposed torso sometimes...well, it would be a secret she’d carry to her grave).

Yu Yan also resented herself for digging the old looking glass out of her storage to attempt taming her hair in the mornings before the mermaid would swing by.

She cringed at her own attempts to tidy her quaint cave dwelling. She wondered why she found herself in the fields miles from home, gathering seaweed for the tea she knew the mermaid liked to drink. She enjoyed the fact that the mermaid responded to her teasing calls of "Angel Fish". And Yu Yan was practically addicted to Keyin’s stupid smile.

Ahh, Yu Yan was at her wit’s end. She was the most notorious sea witch of the Seven Seas for crying out loud! And yet here she was, unable to stop herself from making googly eyes at some mermaid.

Of course, she kept this all to herself. Befriending a sea witch was one thing. Loving a sea witch was unheard of. An impossibility.

It was another Keyin-less weekend. Yu Yan took advantage of the mermaid’s absence to throw off her skirt and stoke the enchanted fire up to a max under the cauldron to make some progress on the potion.

Yu Yan fanned at the bubbles with current churning spells, trying to get them to dispel as fast as possible.

It was so damn hot. Why was this potion so complicated?

With a huff, Yu Yan gathered her hair into a tall bun and tied it off with a piece of thick kelp.

Yu Yan stoked the fire some more and peeked into the cauldron. It was almost time to add the lotus seeds. Where had she put them? She poked her head in the supply chamber and rifled around. She really ought to get more organized. Maybe it was on the bottom shelf?

There was a knock at the door. Yu Yan straightened so quickly she banged her head on the shelf above. She yelped and clapped a hand to the back of her skull, trying to ease the rattling going on in there.

“Oh, are you okay?”

Yu Yan whirled around. Keyin had let herself in.

The mermaid's eyes immediately zeroed in on Yu Yan's exposed lower body. Yu Yan yanked the hem of her tank top down self consciously. It didn’t do much covering.

The mermaid’s gaze had drifted downward and were curiously inspecting the crimson tentacles sprouting from Yu Yan’s lower half. The mermaid didn’t seem freaked out or even remotely disgusted.

Just curious.

And Yu Yan was grateful for that.

At the same time, it felt intimate, almost wrong to let Keyin see Yu Yan so exposed. She felt uncomfortable, but also relieved. Like releasing a breath she hadn’t known she’d been holding.

“How come you always wear the skirt?”

Yu Yan reeled. She’d been anticipating several different reactions, maybe some screaming. But she was wholly unprepared for this question. Keyin always found different ways to surprise her.

“I mean,” Keyin tried to explain. “It must’ve been harder for you to swim.”

“I-,” Yu Yan swallowed and her tentacles fidgeted nervously. “I guess I didn’t want to freak you out.”

Keyin raised an eyebrow. “What? Are they poisonous or something?”

Yu Yan shook her head. Keyin grinned and gently took one of the tentacles in her hand. She pumped it up and down, like she was shaking someone’s hand.

Keyin leaned down. “Nice to meet you, Octo-Yan,” she said to Yu Yan’s belly button.

Yu Yan rolled her eyes. What had she been worried about? This fish was completely nuts.

Keyin giggled and her eyes flicked upwards briefly to meet Yu Yan’s. Yu Yan’s heart did a flutter kick. And the sea witch quickly turned away to hide the smile on her face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aiya Yu Yan what are we gonna do with you? Where did all that confidence go?


	4. Breaking Wave

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another idle day of working on the potion.  
> Yu Yan and Keyin share a heart-to-heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a bit of a lengthier update today  
> i've been blessed with an extension on my assignment  
> i'm so happy i was able to edit this and get it posted

It was a lovely day for an outing at the reefs.

Yu Yan needed to stock up on some inventory and there were a few rare ingredients on the list for the potion she didn’t have in her stores. She would have to venture outside her dwelling to find them.

Yu Yan slung a bag woven from sea kelp across her body and made to leave.

“I’m going out,” she called over her shoulder.

It felt strange, telling someone she was heading out. It was something Yu Yan hadn’t done in a long time. And a small thrill ran through her heart.

Keyin looked up from the book about deep sea creatures she was reading and swam after Yu Yan.

“Where are you going? Take me with you!”

Yu Yan shrugged and allowed the mermaid to trail excitedly after her.

It was a sunny day, bright shards of light danced over the colorful assortment of coral laid out in front of the pair.

Keyin gasped in awe. “It...it’s beautiful!”

The mermaid reached a hand out to a school of fish passing by. They skirted away shyly. And the delighted laugh Keyin let out made Yu Yan feel some sort of way.

Yu Yan let Keyin wander about and got to work, picking her way across the reef. She carefully used her dagger to saw off a few pieces of red sea whips here and there, placing them carefully into her bag.

There was a startled gasp. Yu Yan whirled around in alarm.

Keyin floated face to face with a small red squid. They both stared at each other with intense fascination.

Keyin noticed Yu Yan watching and giggled, “Its tentacles kinda look like yours.”

Yu Yan rolled her eyes, and went back to hunting for fresh seagrass to add to her bag. Keyin and the squid chased each other around the reefs playfully, her laughter ringing melodiously across the open water.

Yu Yan decided it was time for a break around noon. Her bag was bulging from the various sea plants she had harvested. The heat from the sun glaring down from above and it made Yu Yan feel lethargic.

She drifted down, burying herself comfortably in a patch of anemone. Yu Yan flopped onto her stomach, letting her back cook comfortably in the warmth of the sunlight.

The warmth on her back faded slightly and Yu Yan knew Keyin must’ve been hovering close by.

Yu Yan lazily patted the space beside her. “Come hither.”

There was the sound of swishing water as Keyin eagerly flopped down beside Yu Yan.

For a moment, there was blissful silence.

Then, Keyin began to toss and turn, fidgeting in place. She must’ve had a burning question.

Yu Yan sighed sleepily. “What is it?”

Keyin wriggled her tail nervously.

“Can I see your tattoo?”

Yu Yan wordlessly, smoothed her long hair off of her back so the mermaid could take a closer look.

When Yu Yan had first turned up in the ocean, her body had been cut up from running into jagged rocks during her mortal death of drowning in a river. While most of her body made full recovery when she transformed into a sea witch, Yu Yan’s back remained marred with the white scars. The criss-cross of scars weren’t exactly ugly, but they also weren’t exactly the most pleasant reminder of how she came to be as she was.

After a few months living with Xiai and Cheng Jue, Yu Yan made the decision to get the massive tattoo across her back in an attempt to cover up the scars.

Xiai had done the actual tattooing while Cheng Jue held Yu Yan down so she wouldn’t keep squirming from the pain. Good times.

Yu Yan felt the longing sadness for her coven echo through the hollow of her chest at the memory.

The water shifted slightly again. Hovering.

Yu Yan sighed sleepily. “Go ahead, you can touch it if you want.”

The tip of Keyin’s finger landed immediately on one of Yu Yan’s many scars. As Keyin traced a finger down a white marking Yu Yan stiffened, her skin prickled at the mermaid’s gentle touch.

“What happened to you?”

Yu Yan tilted her head slightly to peek at Keyin’s expression. “Would you believe me if I told you it was a boating accident?”

Keyin raised an eyebrow, so Yu Yan knew there was no bullshiting her.

Yu Yan sighed and continued to allow Keyin’s fingers to explore her back, mapping out unfamiliar territories.

“I’m sure you’ve heard of my reputation, right?”

Yu Yan could feel the water ripples behind her as Keyin nodded.

“Well, contrary to popular belief, I don’t just kill for sport.”

Yu Yan turned onto her back, and Keyin drifted down to recline in the anemones too.

“Do you know how one becomes a sea witch?”

_Before Yu Yan was the terrible sea witch of the Seven Seas, she was a perfectly ordinary land-dweller residing in a small fishing town. She was beautiful, hard-working, and charming; some even called her the flower of the town._

_And of course, a flower attracts admirers. One man in particular wasn’t shy about professing his feelings for Yu Yan in the middle of town square._

_But Yu Yan had no interest as the man was already engaged._

_A flower also stirs up envy. Needless to say, the fiance of the man was not pleased._

_One day, while Yu Yan was fishing by the river, the man’s fiance pushed her in. And Yu Yan was never seen or heard from ever again._

_Yu Yan didn’t remember much of her human death._

_She recalled struggling against the rapids that quickly washed her out to the sea, her body crashed against the unforgiving rocks lining the river. She only knew it was the ocean because the water in her mouth grew salty to the taste._

_As Yu Yan drifted further down, her vision dimmed and the light of the upper world faded further away. She was kept alive by the burning hatred for the man who caused this misfortune to her. And Yu Yan’s only regret was not taking the revenge she deserved._

_She continued to sink. Two large masses at the edges of her vision neared. Sharks? Yu Yan hoped not. Drowning was already quite unpleasant._

_“Do you think she’s one of us?”_

_Yu Yan thought she was hallucinating, but she heard the voice clear as day. She sluggishly turned her head to the side._

_A girl with neatly trimmed bangs blinked curiously at her._

_“Yeah, look at her neck. The gills are growing already.”_

_Yu Yan turned her head to peer at the girl on the other side of her. She was fierce looking, hair closely cropped, brows arched perfectly._

_What had she said? Gills? Yu Yan touched her own neck. Two rows of horizontal slits ran down the back of her neck, one on each side of her spinal cord. She took a tentative breath._

_She could breathe underwater._

_The girl with bangs grasped her arm. “Finally someone to complete our coven!”_

_“Chen Jue, let her decide if she even wants to come with us first,” the other chided._

_Yu Yan checked herself out. She could see more clearly and her arms were dinged up but still seemed intact._

_Then she saw her legs._

_Or rather lack of legs._

_Where her legs used to be, a cluster of crimson octopus tentacles churned lazily, keeping Yu Yan afloat where she was._

_She let out a warbled yell._

_“What- what am I?” she asked the mysterious girls._

_“A sea witch,” the girl with bangs answered and cheerfully did a spin in the water. Her tentacles flared out in display, a wonderful hue of golden yellow. “Just like us.”_

_Yu Yan agreed to follow the other two girls back to the cave where they lived as she didn’t know the way around the seas like they did._

_Yu Yan soon learned the girl with the sharp brows was named Xiai. It seemed that Chen Jue had been down here for quite awhile already. And Xiai for even longer. She and Chen Jue had been living together for several decades, waiting for a third member to complete their witch’s coven._

_“Together we can brew magic more powerful than any of us can individually,” Xiai explained with a dark glimmer in her eyes. “Then, we can finally get revenge.”_

_The word awakened a hunger deep within Yu Yan._

_“You want revenge too?”_

_Chen Jue did another spin. “Of course. That’s what makes us sea witches.” She bared her teeth (though it wasn’t very intimidating). “The menaces of the sea. The night terrors of pirates! The snatchers of lost souls! The-”_

_Xiai interrupted, “So what do you say, Yu Yan? Want to join the club?”_

_Yu Yan felt herself warm at the invitation, and she nodded furiously._

_Xiai smiled, taking Yu Yan’s hand in hers._

_“Welcome to the coven, Sister.”_

_Yu Yan absolutely adored her new family. They all lived together in a secluded underwater cavern, spending most of their time experimenting with new spells and brewing various potions. They had already checked off Xiai and Chen Jue’s missions for revenge (queasingly bloody scenarios, even by Yu Yan’s standards). Now they were just scouting a chance to fulfill Yu Yan’s desire for revenge to surface as well._

_It happened by chance. The coven had noticed a baby mermaid had gotten caught in a fisherman’s net and had moved in to free her. They were tussling with the net close to the surface of the water where there was a boat anchored and the men aboard were hauling the net up. Yu Yan found herself suddenly peering up at the face of the man directly above the surface of the water._

_It was him. Middle-aged, well tanned, with laughter lines marking the edge of his eyes._

_Meanwhile Yu Yan was technically dead, had gills and tentacles, and was granted magical powers because she literally hated this man that much. And here he was, doing pretty well it seemed._

_It was hard to say who was more startled to see the other more._

_Perhaps he was. Upon spotting the youthful face that hadn’t aged since the last he’d seen her, the man jerked back with surprise and toppled off the other side of the boat with a splash._

_By this time the net had been slashed, the baby mermaid freed. Yu Yan made eye contact with her coven. She pointed at the flailing man in the water._

_“Get him.”_

_Xiai and Chen Jue instantly knew, and the three of them fell upon their prey._

“And what did you guys do to him?” Keyin asking, sitting up with interest.

“I’ll keep that part to myself. I don’t want you to have nightmares, Angel Fish.” Yu Yan smiled wryly and gently poked Keyin’s nose. “Just know that he was dead within minutes and the sharks came to cleanup shortly after.”

Keyin shivered and Yu Yan laughed. She grabbed at Keyin with her tentacles and the mermaid shrieked. Yu Yan laughed so hard, she snorted.

Keyin huffed and regained her composure.

“Anyways, what happened after?”

_The other men on the boat had obviously seen what happened and saw it as a declaration of war on the land dwellers. News spread and sea witch hunting parties began patrolling the waters._

_The mermaids who originally kept their distance from the coven grew to hate the three as many of their own were slaughtered when mistaken to be sea witches._

_One day, the coven heard whispers in the water that a ship had sunken. This normally wouldn’t have perked their interest, but the coven hadn’t been able to get certain materials they needed from the surface as they were trying to avoid being caught. A sunken ship could have some of the things they needed that was free for grabs._

_So they foolishly rushed over._

_Sure enough a few miles offshore, a small boat was lying at the bottom. Xiai and Chen Jue eagerly entered the interiors of the boat. But something held Yu Yan back._

_The boat was lying on its side, and yet Yu Yan could see no signs of a damaged hull which was normally what caused boats to sink this close to shore. Instead, there were only two neat rows of holes running down the belly of the ship._

_Almost as if someone had intended the boat to sink._

_“It’s a trap!” she shouted urgently._

_Yu Yan tried to pull open the door she’d seen Xiai and Chen Jue go through, but it seemed sealed shut. She banged desperately on the door._

_The wood of the ship cracked and collapsed in on itself, throwing up a cloud of sand._

_Yu Yan did her best to shield her eyes while still desperately trying to find her coven. She desperately called their names into the muddy water._

_And Yu Yan finally heard a response._

_Xiai was struggling in a net, which was completely odd because she could’ve easily gotten out with her magic. But as she swam closer, Yu Yan saw that the net was faintly glowing. She felt the blood freeze in her veins. Mermaid magic._

_They hadn’t brought anything that day to combat mermaid magic._

“The merfolk had struck a deal with the land dwellers. They would help catch us, then the land dwellers would leave them alone.”

Keyin frowned, and her tail fidgeted uncomfortably.

“Don’t you hate the merfolk then? Don’t you hate me?”

Yu Yan shook her head and replied, “I understand why they did it though. I would’ve done the same for my coven.”

“So what happened to Xiai and Chen Jue then?”

Yu Yan’s hand subconsciously traced the hilt of her dagger.

“I couldn’t save them. And the land dwellers couldn’t catch me either.”

Keyin’s eyes were sparkling with sympathy.

Yu Yan groaned and looked away. “You’re not gonna like me too much after this next part.”

Keyin shrugged, “Everyone knows what happens next. The land dwellers didn’t catch their main target.” She glanced briefly at Yu Yan.

“So they kept searching the seas. They broke their promise with the merfolk, and began killing merfolk for their scales. And as more people tried to attack, you just had more revenge to serve as well.”

Yu Yan was not proud of her bloody reputation, but she was grateful Keyin understood. If someone told her she’d get so comfortable with a mermaid a month ago, Yu Yan wouldn’t have believed them. But now, she couldn’t imagine herself in the present without Keyin in the picture.

“Do you think they’d be ashamed of me?” Keyin suddenly asked in a small voice, breaking Yu Yan from her thoughts.

“Who?”

“My parents,” Keyin replied whilst casually playing with one of Yu Yan’s tentacles. “Do you think they’d be ashamed that I’m in love with a land dweller?”

The abrupt reminder of the land dweller that was the subject of Keyin’s affections put a bad taste in Yu Yan’s mouth. But that was beyond the point.

“Why would they be disappointed?”

“Because they were killed by land dwellers.”

The current, gentle and lazy before, suddenly felt chilly. Yu Yan tried not to let the discomfort show on her face as she shrugged and casually replied, “Love has no logic. Sometimes it just happens.”

This, most evidently, was the right thing to say. The mermaid seemed to sag with relief, as if a big weight had been lifted from her chest. And Yu Yan was glad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As we approach finals season, I want to plug [my Twitter](https://twitter.com/vegetablebirb) one more time since I might not be able to keep up with weekly posts.  
> I do try to post a WIP Wednesday every week though (that may include snippets from 'Wave Maker') just to encourage myself if progress is slow. Hope you guys are staying healthy and safe! ~🌻


	5. Waterwheels

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hope is the cruelest gift to give.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought I wouldn't be able to post this week, but here we are. Yay!!  
> Break is coming up so hopefully I'll be able to do a double post next week (no promises though lol)

Another couple of weeks passed by comfortably.

“Hey, I brought oysters today! Let’s go on a picnic,” Keyin barged in without bothering to knock.

Yu Yan absently chewed on the end of her kelp hair tie. “Hm...oysters? I’m vegetarian though.” She rapidly scrawled something in the margin of the spellbook she was studying.

“Well…” Keyin rifled through her basket. “I also brought some sea grape wine and seaweed salad.”

Yu Yan put down her pen and stretched. Her joints popped melodiously. She could use a break. And seaweed salad sounded pretty good.

“Alright, let’s go.”

Yu Yan had to get some more supplies anyways, so she led the mermaid into a kelp forest for a quiet picnic.

Keyin was a lot of things Yu Yan wasn’t expecting.

A messy eater was _not_ one of them.

Keyin pried the oysters open with surprising strength and slurped away with gusto. It was completely disgusting. And Yu Yan was completely endeared.

“Ah!” Keyin clapped a hand over her mouth.

“What’s wrong?” Yu Yan asked without looking up from her seaweed salad. Her tentacles scrunched with delight. It was really tasty.

Keyin stuck her forefinger in her mouth and wiggled around a bit. Then, she neatly spat a pearl into her hand. It was a perfectly round and faint grey, the same color as Keyin’s fish scales.

The mermaid waved it around, pinched firmly between her thumb and pointer finger, allowing the water surrounding them to wash off the organic matter clinging onto the pearl.

With a grin on her face, Keyin grabbed Yu Yan’s hand and pressed the pearl into it.

If it had been anyone else, Yu Yan would’ve found it completely revolting. But with Keyin’s bright eyes gazing earnestly at her, the sea witch felt touched. Yu Yan carefully stored the pearl in one of the many pouches she’d brought along for inventory collecting.

After their lunch, Yu Yan swam lazily through the ribbons of kelp occasionally turning onto her back to watch the sunlight slice through the dense clumps of plant matter and faintly lighting up the greenery around her.

Keyin had wandered off on her own, claiming she wanted to find some younger strips of kelp to make them a stir-fry for dinner.

Yu Yan used her dagger to randomly saw off lengthy pieces of ordinary kelp for snacking on. She carved small slivers from the occasional kelp that grew mighty and strong, with veins of gold running through their proud bodies. A telltale sign of magical properties.

Yu Yan tied the ordinary strips of kelp around her waist and stored the smaller clippings in her trusty woven bag.

An ear splitting scream rippled through the water.

Yu Yan tensed.

Keyin.

She hurriedly swam off in the direction of the scream, heartbeat roaring in her ears.

Keyin had gotten herself caught in a waterwheel trap a little outside the bounds of the kelp field. Waterwheels, being carnivorous plants by nature, were often used by the merfolk to make traps in order to keep larger intruders off their properties. Including other merfolk.

While Yu Yan assessed the situation, Keyin struggled against a mass of green covering the ocean floor like an ugly carpet. Her tail was already tangled in the web of waterwheels. But the constant wriggling only served to get her further ensnared. Her hands struggled to peel the pesky plants off of herself. However, for every waterwheel she flicked off, two more took their place.

The carnivorous plants were tightening their hold, practically tasting their meal as the spindly vines cut deeper into the mermaid’s tail.

Keyin cried out, “Yu Yan! Yu Yan! Please save me!”

Yu Yan channeled a burst of boiling water and thrust it at the carpet of waterwheels. The wall of hot water sliced through the clearing, the only sign of its presence being the flurry of bubbles left in its wake.

The plants instantly loosened their hold on Keyin and scattered like ants. Yu Yan hurriedly swam over to the mermaid and pulled her up away from the ocean floor.

Keyin trembled like an autumn leaf ready to be torn off a branch by the wind. Yu Yan quickly tucked her into what she hoped was a comforting embrace.

“Can we go home?” Keyin asked softly. Her tail was still bleeding and her arms were covered with light burns. The sea witch winced sympathetically and nodded. And they headed back together.

Yu Yan didn’t even react to Keyin calling her place ‘home’.

“Hold still!” Yu Yan snapped as Keyin squirmed yet again.

The mermaid’s tail wasn’t in very good shape and needed treatment. But Keyin kept flinching away whenever Yu Yan tried to dribble some healing potion over the nasty cuts. The mermaid’s constant movement only further irritated her wounds and dispelled more blood into the water around them, making the entire house reek with it’s coppery scent.

Yu Yan gently dabbed at the gashes on Keyin’s legs with a cloth, an irritable expression fixed on her face.

“You knew those were waterwheels, Angel Fish. So why the hell did you go mucking around over there?”

Keyin just pouted, and replied with her own question.

“Do you still have the pearl I gave you?”

“What does that have to-”

Keyin thrust her hand out insistently.

Yu Yan sighed and rifled through her bag. She pulled out the small pouch housing the pearl and passed it to Keyin.

Keyin dumped the pearl onto the palm of her hand and unwound a small coil of chain Yu Yan previously hadn’t noticed was wrapped around the strap of the mermaid’s top.

Keyin pointed an index finger at the pearl. There was a small flash of light, and the pearl was strung onto the chain. The mermaid gestured for Yu Yan to come closer.

“I don’t normally like using magic,” Keyin said quietly as she circled her arms around Yu Yan’s neck. Yu Yan felt another burst of magical warmth fan across her gills as Keyin sealed the ends of the chain into a simple necklace. She smiled at Yu Yan, “But I’m willing to make an exception for you.”

Yu Yan felt herself absolutely melt. But she forced herself to put on a serious face.

“Did you go into the waterwheels for this?” Yu Yan asked, gingerly touching the chain hanging loosely around her neck. The mermaid bashfully folded her tail, then winced at the action. Yu Yan went back to treating Keyin’s wounds.

“I thought I could just snatch it really quick, but….” She looked away embarrassed. “I thought you would look nice with a pearl necklace.

And so, in that watery cave in the middle of the East Sea, a small flame of hope flickered alive within the sea witch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is completely unrelated but I recently picked up "Scum Villain's Self-Saving System" and I just *inhales sharply*  
> I just started reading it this week and I'm already more than halfway through it T-T  
> anyways  
> did you know? waterwheels are real plants  
> also, this scene was originally written with a shark (that Yu Yan strangles with seaweed)  
> but in the end I decided against it


	6. Lotus Lake

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time to say goodbye?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So unfortunately Thanksgiving Break don't mean anything to my professors.  
> Probably won't be able to double post like I had hoped.

Finally it came to the dreaded last week where the potion would be completed, and Keyin would leave for land.

Yu Yan deliberated if she should say something before it was too late.

“Hey, can you swim in freshwater?” Yu Yan asked Keyin one day.

Keyin looked up from her very poor drawing of Yu Yan’s face (or at least she thought it was her face). “Yeah, why?”

“Let’s go get the last few ingredients. I think you’ll like where I’m going to take you.”

Yu Yan led the mermaid up an obscure, freshwater stream that fed into a lake hidden in a plunging valley. She poked her head up slightly to survey the environment, ensuring there weren’t any loitering land-dwellers that happened to stumble into the quiet sanctuary.

“Put your head up, but keep your neck in the water so you can breathe through your gills.”

Keyin followed Yu Yan’s instructions. Her eyes widened at the sight of the lotus flowers resting on the lily pads covering nearly the entire surface of the lake. Vibrant lotus flowers decorated the patches of green with blots of purple, pink, and white.

Yu Yan smiled at her reactions.

Sure the flowers were pretty. But nothing could compare to the mermaid.

Yu Yan cringed at here own thoughts and quickly looked for a distraction.

“Here.” Yu Yan dipped her hands into the water and bent some of the liquid into a long rectangular shape. She wrapped the strip of liquid around the mermaid’s neck like a scarf. “You should be able to lift your head up now.”

Keyin tested it out, eyes widening as she took a tentative breath of air. “I can breathe out of water!” She smiled brightly and Yu Yan knew she had made the right decision choosing this place as the location of their last outing.

“How come you can breathe out of water?” Keyin inquired, taking note of Yu Yan’s lack of a water scarf.

“I have lungs _and_ gills. When I’m in the water, my gills filter water into my lungs.” Yu Yan lifted her hair and pointed at the slits on the back of her neck.

Keyin jabbed a finger experimentally at Yu Yan’s gills. The sea witch gagged, then wheezed.

Yu Yan coughed, “Why- why would you do that?”

Keyin folded her tail bashfully. “I was curious.”

Yu Yan gently rubbed her neck, irritation on her face. “A warning next time, Angel Fish?”

Keyin pouted and reached out to cling onto Yu Yan’s arm.

“Aww, come on. Please don’t be mad with me.”

Yu Yan chuckled, and then ruffled Keyin’s hair with her free hand. She tucked a lotus flower behind the mermaid’s ear. It was a gentle hue of pink, the color of Keyin’s cheeks whenever she got flustered. How could she ever be mad at Keyin?

The mermaid blinked rapidly. She opened her mouth as if wanting to say something, but then quickly shut it.

Instead, she turned to pluck a snowy lotus flower and wordlessly tucked it behind Yu Yan’s ear. Yu Yan felt the breath halt in her throat. Their eyes met, and their gazes held.

Yu Yan studied Keyin’s expression, but the mermaid’s face had an odd blankness to it.

Yu Yan swallowed and broke the stifling silence by sloshing gracefully through the water to collect some lotus roots.

Keyin was abnormally quiet afterwards, only speaking to ask Yu Yan if she needed any help picking lotus pods.

Before it was time to head back home, both sea witch and mermaid dragged themselves up onto the muddy shore of the lake and watched the sun set behind the mountains.

Yu Yan flicked a few of her tentacles idly in the water while the others swirled abstract patterns into the mud.

“Angel Fish...what did you think about today?”

The mermaid stared at the last rays of the glowing sun fading from the sky. And Yu Yan forced her lungs to breathe again.

“It was so much fun! I’ve really enjoyed my time with you,” Keyin ended the statement on a slightly wistful note. “I’ll miss this.”

Yu Yan felt her palms get sweaty. And she licked her rapidly drying lips.

“W- well, I mean- you don’t have to leave. The potion is done, but it’s still your choice whether or not to take it.” As she rambled, Yu Yan tried to summon a bit more of the self esteem she knew was buried in herself somewhere. (She was the dreaded sea witch of the seven seas for crying out loud!)

“But...I can’t.”

“Why not?” Yu Yan tried to keep the desperation out of her voice.

“Because I….love him?” Keyin phrased the last part as a question.

 _But what about me?_ Yu Yan wanted to ask, the words eagerly clawing their way up to the tip of her tongue. _Don’t you feel anything for me?_

She held her tongue though, swallowing the words back down. If Keyin couldn’t even be swayed when Yu Yan brought her to _literally_ the most romantic spot within reach of the East Sea, there was probably no convincing her to divert from the original plan.

So instead they went over the final logistics of Keyin’s transition to life on land.

Despite her general distaste of land dwellers, Yu Yan _had_ managed to make a small handful of human friends over the years. She arranged for Keyin to stay with Wenxuan at his bakery and learn the basic ins and outs of human life before moving out when she got married or something.

That night when they returned, Yu Yan dutifully added the last few ingredients to the potion. Yu Yan felt her heart drop like the final chunks of lotus root into the caldron.

The contents of the cauldron sloshed excitedly and churned into a translucent color with a glittering sheen. Yu Yan bottled the potion with a sinking in her stomach and handed it over to the mermaid.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit of a short update today :(((  
> I'm getting some stuff ready so I can hopefully participate in Markhyuck week at the end of the year.  
> Ahh, I feel like my world building always crumbles as the fic progresses. (Btw that is so _not_ how gills work, sorry lol)  
> But no matter. Onwards and upwards!


	7. Seek Comfort

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new character enters Yu Yan's life

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'all we are in the final stretch  
> I just gotta clear finals next week and we shall be gucci (hopefully)  
> banana eels are a real thing btw

The next morning, before Keyin swam to the surface to take the potion, she gave Yu Yan one last ambiguous smile and touched her throat.

Yu Yan raised a hand to stop her. “No need. I wouldn’t know how to store your voice if you gave it to me anyways. So just...don’t.”

Keyin smiled, but her eyes looked sad. Yu Yan swallowed her own feelings and said instead, “I didn’t say this yesterday, but I….also really enjoyed our time together.”

Keyin seemed to be waiting for the next words. _I'm going to miss you too._ But Yu Yan remained silent, afraid she’d blurt something out she’d regret.

The mermaid pursed her lips and turned to leave, then hesitated.

Keyin faced Yu Yan.

“Will you come visit me?” Keyin’s tail lightly fanned the water between them. “I think I would miss you too much.”

It was a selfish question, no doubt about it.

But Yu Yan didn’t know if it was more selfish when she agreed, too fast and too eager.

After Keyin grew her stems, she quickly became acclimated to the land dweller life over the next few weeks. It was hard for Yu Yan to keep track of the days as of late. The weeks blurred together, and she only remembered the occasional meetings she and the former mermaid arranged to have at the pier (often in the dead of night).

Yu Yan must’ve loved torturing herself because for the first month Keyin would talk of nothing except the handsome land dweller she had been making eyes at. Yu Yan thought hearing it more would help her get over her stupid little crush. But in reality, her heart was just getting absolutely thrashed every time they met up.

Back at home, Yu Yan quickly grew tired of her Keyin-less life. Without the bubbly mermaid constantly zooming around her house or asking prodding questions, Yu Yan’s living space seemed too big and far too quiet for comfort.

How had she done it all those years when Xiai and Chen Jue were no longer with her? And before Keyin had come rudely barging into her life?

A light clatter brought Yu Yan out of her brooding cloud of depression.

Yu Yan tensed as she caught a glimpse of a yellow tail wiggling under the table. She grabbed one of her nets, expecting it to be a simple catch and release.

She was sadly mistaken.

Half an hour later, Yu Yan had chased the intruder throughout her entire house and still failed to capture the thing. She did get a closer look at the creature though. It was a banana eel, rather small in size.

Yu Yan might’ve even thought it was cute.

If it weren’t so damn annoying.

The eel ducked behind the cauldron as Yu Yan swung her net fruitlessly at it, narrowly missing knocking over the pot. Yu Yan circled to the back of the cauldron. The banana eel scooted itself around the other side of the cauldron with surprising agility. Yu Yan slumped back on her tentacles with defeat.

When it wasn’t pursued by Yu Yan, the banana eel peeked its face around the steaming pot. Yu Yan and the eel locked eyes. She made no move to catch it. The banana eel swam out from its hiding place. Yu Yan rolled her eyes and went back to her notes. She wanted to get this experiment done today.

Something smooth glided against her forearm and Yu Yan jumped, nearly knocking over the bottle of experimental brew she had been studying. The banana eel was rubbing against Yu Yan’s arm like a cat begging for attention.

_Cat_. Yu Yan hadn’t seen a cat in decades and she briefly wondered if she’d ever see one again in her time as a sea witch. She slowly lifted her hand and gently rubbed the eel on the head, the way she would’ve pet an actual cat.

It definitely didn’t feel as soft or fuzzy as a cat. But the eel closed its eyes with delight and Yu Yan could imagine it purring. She booped the yellow creature on its nose.

The banana eel excitedly whirled through the water in front of Yu Yan, swimming in figure-eights and wriggling energetically. Finally the eel calmed down and swam around Yu Yan’s neck, laying across the back of it like a really bright scarf. It looked sleepy.

Yu Yan smiled and went back to writing her notes.

The banana eel ended up sticking around the house for the next few days, so Yu Yan assumed it wasn’t planning on leaving any time soon. She named her new pet Popcorn and found caring for the creature a good distraction from her present girl problems.

A lot of her time was still spent experimenting, but now she also made time to teach Popcorn new tricks and did her best to keep the mischievous eel away from her experimental brews.

One day, Popcorn had ingested a piece of fabric soaked in refraction potion Yu Yan had left out on her table. In theory, the potion would act like an underwater flash bomb. The surrounding water would shift so that the sunlight refracting into the sea would bend to make the user disappear.

It was a good thing this particular concoction needed direct contact with fire to have any real consequences and nothing happened to Popcorn other than the side effect of glittery feces (lovely).

Nevertheless, Yu Yan made a conscious effort to not leave anything potentially potent just lying around for her new pet to taste test.

“Look, I have a pet now!” Yu Yan held Popcorn up for Keyin to see. The banana eel immediately began thrashing, unable to breathe out of water.

“Oops.” Yu Yan summoned a small sphere of water suspended in midair and plopped Popcorn in. The eel settled at the bottom of the makeshift fishbowl to sulk.

Yu Yan pouted, “Aww, don’t be mad.” She stuck her finger inside the water sphere and wiggled it around. Popcorn ignored her.

Keyin was not put off by the eel’s demeanor and eagerly stuck her hand into the sphere, patting Popcorn’s thick yellow body. Popcorn rubbed its head against Keyin’s hand in a pleased manner. Yu Yan scowled at how easily the eel’s affections wavered.

“So, how has life been in the world of the land dwellers lately, Angel Fish?” Yu Yan prompted as she watched Popcorn wriggle excitedly at Keyin’s attention.

Keyin’s bright expression faded a little. She bit her lip. “Well, it's still a bit hard since there's so much to learn. I like working in the bakery though.” She brightened at the mention of her space of temporary residence. “Wenxuan and his friends are very fun.”

There was a brief pause. Yu Yan knew Keyin wanted to tell her something.

“What is it?” Yu Yan asked at the same time Keyin blurted, “He proposed!”

Yu Yan blinked. “Oh….wow. Nice.”

Keyin twisted a lock of her hair nervously around her finger. “I thought I should tell you since we’re friends and all and you helped make this happen for me. So thank you,” she rambled.

Yu Yan tried to put on what she hoped was a happy expression. Popcorn, as if sensing her unhappiness, pushed out of the hovering sphere of water and swam around Yu Yan’s waist. The eel squeezed the sea witch’s torso gently in a pseudo-hug.

“Of- of course! That’s wonderful. I’m so happy for you,” Yu Yan lied through her teeth. “I’m afraid I won’t be able to attend your wedding though, Angel Fish.” Nor did she want to.

They chatted some more, and before they knew it dawn was stretching her back across the skyline. Yu Yan promised to visit Keyin again and dove back into the depths, Popcorn following behind her, the false smile fading from her face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unrelated but while preparing for Markhyuck week, I've fallen back into the NCT hole T-T  
> My attention, my time, my very existence is being consumed  
> And you know what?  
> I'm absolutely loving it


	8. Erosion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time to visit some old friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just finished finals wootwoot!  
> Apologies for the delayed post this week, but hopefully I can finish the fic by the end of the year :))

Yu Yan didn’t visit Keyin this week.

Instead, she went to visit a couple of old friends.

Yu Yan first swam towards the cooler waters of the north and visited an underwater graveyard guarded by an elderly merman.

He nodded in acknowledgement, recognizing Yu Yan to be a frequent visitor and unlocked the gates for her.

Yu Yan left a bouquet of anemones on top of a familiar plot of sand. Guilt bit into her heart at the messy appearance of the grave marker. It had been a while since the last time she visited. Yu Yan used her dagger to scrape off the barnacles clinging to Chen Jue’s grave marker.

Yu Yan then made the long swim to a secluded dead reef somewhere in the center of the East Sea. There was no gravesite here, only a single grave marker for a sea witch.

Yu Yan traced the characters of Xiai’s name carved into the stone. With no one to maintain the place, Xiai’s grave marker accumulated a lot of algae growth. Yu Yan took care to scrub it clean with a stray piece of sponge.

One day, the coven had gotten a little tipsy on sea grape wine and (for whatever reason) thought it would be fun to write down where they would like to be buried should they ever die. No one knew if sea witches had an expiration date, so they were all just doing it for sh1ts and giggles.

It wasn’t so amusing when Yu Yan actually had to make use of the information.

There were no burial rites or any other funeral traditions Yu Yan could really do since there were no bodies. But she figured she could at least get her friends grave markers.

Or maybe it was just for herself, afraid she would forget her dear coven should she go on living forever in solitude.

When she was done cleaning the grave marker, Yu Yan flopped down on the sand next to the slab of stone.

_“Why are you getting so dressed up?” Yu Yan asked as Xiai tried on her 5th skirt._

_Xiai tsked and checked the fit of the garment in the looking glass._

_“One day, you’ll fall in love. Then you will understand.”_

_Yu Yan scoffed and left to find Chen Jue, who wouldn’t be all sappy from being in love._

Yu Yan leaned her head against her dear friend’s grave marker.

“I think I finally understand, Xiai.”

Yu Yan’s tentacles subconsciously wrapped themselves around the stone. She sighed, wished desperately to feel her friend’s comforting arm around her shoulder one more time.

She pushed herself up and began to pace back and forth through the water.

“Ah, what do I do?” Yu Yan smiled bitterly to herself. “I think I’m in love.”

Then she bowed her head over Xiai’s grave marker, and cried her heart out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i've been feelin the feels


	9. Storm Clouds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Should Yu Yan give up? Or cling to hope?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think "Wave Maker" is pretty much wrapped up draft wise  
> Stay tuned for the Cloud9 fic fest holiday drabbles!

Yu Yan told herself she was going to stop clinging onto the belief that she could convince Keyin to come back. And so she gloomily stored away the special batch of reversal potion she had developed and brewed when Keyin had first gone ashore. When Yu Yan was still drunk on hope.

But she couldn’t help but feel the flare of _something_ in her chest when, for the first time, Keyin revealed she wasn’t 100% content with her new life.

That night, Keyin had arrived at the pier looking dead on her feet, fingers bandaged. Yu Yan was horrified to see her friend in such a state and asked her what had happened. Keyin just tiredly shook her head and explained that she had gotten a job at the local tailor shop to help save up for the wedding. However, she wasn’t allowed to use the machines and was mostly tasked with mending holes by hand. She kept pricking herself by accident and the boss hollered that she better not get any blood on the customer’s clothes.

Keyin had her feet in the water and she flutter-kicked irritably, showering Yu Yan with droplets. “I miss eating oysters and drinking kelp tea. I miss the freeness of the ocean. And I just miss...well, I miss you too.” Keyin ran a hand through her hair, gritting her teeth in frustration as the ends of the bandages caught in the strands.

Yu Yan reached out and gently took Keyin’s hand in her own. With nimble fingers, Yu Yan untied the messy bandage strips. Using her free hand, Yu Yan cupped some sea water and splashed it onto Keyin’s dinged up fingers.

Keyin sucked in a sharp breath, the salt water stinging the tiny cuts. But she didn’t jerk her hand away, trusting Yu Yan fully.

Yu Yan took a deep breath and felt the light pulse of energy run down both her arms. Keyin’s fingers returned back to their natural state of being pretty and delicate.

Yu Yan blinked, and then hurriedly let go of Keyin’s hand. She cleared her throat.

“That’s all I can do for you right now. I’ll see you next week!” She dove into the waves before Keyin could respond.

She would get over the mermaid.

Eventually.

The next time they met, the sky was dark, it was raining. And Keyin was sad again.

“I should’ve listened to you.” The words were whispered, almost inaudible. But that only made them more heartbreaking.

The rain began to come down harder. Keyin’s teeth chattered with the chill that came with the element she used to be one with.

“The rain...it’s not as lovely as I imagined it would be. I thought it would be a romantic thing and….not as cold.” She looked down at the plain engagement ring that glinted dully on her finger. “Many things aren’t as lovely as I thought they’d be.”

Yu Yan was filled with sadness as well. She hated seeing the once vibrant and bubbly mermaid so wilted and unhappy. She waved her hand and the dark clouds above them swirled and dissipated, ceasing the rainfall. Yu Yan snapped her fingers and Keyin’s clothes dried themselves.

“You can control the weather?” Keyin asked, voice thick from crying but still curious.

“For you, Angel Fish,” Yu Yan said as she hoisted the basket of oysters up onto the pier, “I could move mountains.”

This was a lie. Yu Yan could only work magic rooted in water. Manipulating the weather (which actually pushed more into air magic) was something she could only do in short bursts, and she could already see storm clouds grouping back up.

Yu Yan lost her rhythm with words and gestured for Keyin to help herself. “I don’t know if this helps at all, and I’m not good at comforting people, but- it's just- well. You mentioned last time you missed oysters. And I just thought-”

To her horror, Keyin’s pretty eyes welled with more tears, delicate lashes glittering in the dim moonlight.

Then, Keyin tore into the fresh oysters. Barely pausing between them before cracking open the next shell and sucking down the tender flesh of the mussel.

When she was done (in a record-breaking 3 minutes), she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and leaned back with satisfaction. Yu Yan blinked at the empty pile of oyster shells, feeling slightly terrified.

Keyin rolled over onto her stomach so she could talk to Yu Yan better.

“Thank you,” she whispered. And Yu Yan fought the smile threatening to split across her face.

She flicked some water into Keyin’s face. “It was nothing, Angel Fish.”

Keyin wriggled herself a little closer to the edge of the pier, her smile fading away in favor of a more serious glint in her eye.

“I miss the ocean so much. I’m such a fool for doing this, and I see it more clearly now.” She sighed and swirled her finger in the water below idly before asking, “Isn’t there a way for me to go back?”

Her eyes met with Yu Yan’s and- damn. She was crying again. Yu Yan was not good at dealing with tears.

Without thinking much, Yu Yan extended a tentacle out of the water to brush away Keyin’s tears. It was only when Yu Yan saw the slimy thing against Keyin’s cheek did she realize what she was doing.

Horrified it would disgust Keyin who was now accustomed to human life, Yu Yan tried to pull away. The suction cups on her tentacle reluctantly popped off Keyin’s face with light snaps that made Yu Yan wince.

Keyin’s giggle rang out in the quiet night. And she finally smiled.

“That tickles.”

Her face glowing in the moonlight. It was the happiest Yu Yan had seen Keyin in the past month. And her heart swelled at the thought that she, Yu Yan, made Keyin happy.

Tentatively, Yu Yan used the back of her tentacle (careful to not touch with the suction cups this time) and brushed a strand of Keyin’s hair behind her ear.

Keyin didn’t even flinch at the slimy sensation. Instead she shifted even closer to the edge of the pier, as if craving more of Yu Yan’s touch. Their eyes met and the intense look of longing in Keyin’s expression hit Yu Yan like a punch in the gut.

“Keyin-”

Keyin leaned over the edge of the wooden dock and, under the murky light of the moon, kissed Yu Yan flat on the mouth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So it turns out winter break ain't much of a break when you're supposed to interview prep  
> I'm tryna do a 30 days of productivity challenge  
> Except im really sucking at the whole productivity part :/


	10. Tsunami

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yu Yan can't bear the thought of losing someone else.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The final chapter of "Wave Maker" is here!

Yu Yan tensed at the sudden action, like a frightened school of fish clustering together.

Keyin pulled back. She looked away shyly.

“I’m sorry-” Keyin began at the same time Yu Yan said, “There is a way.”

The sea witch swallowed, lips still tingling. She cleared her throat and continued, “I made a potion that could reverse the one you took and take you back into the depths of the sea. I can bring it for you.”

The last sentence tumbled out eagerly and Yu Yan paused. “I mean, if you want me to.”

Yu Yan took Keyin’s hand in her own and tentatively touched the engagement ring. She looked up at Keyin. Without a second of hesitation, Keyin yanked the ring off herself and hurled it into the vast sea, the waves churned and swept it away.

This time Yu Yan pulled Keyin in, mouths slotting together as if tailored to fit one another. She tasted the tang of salt from the oysters Keyin had eaten. She tasted the sea on the mermaid’s lips. And it felt like home.

The telltale sound of crunching gravel caused them to jolt apart. Someone was coming down the path to the pier. And fast.

Yu Yan and Keyin looked at each other. And Yu Yan quickly ducked underwater.

But not fast enough. Lamp light flashed over the water, Yu Yan flinched at the brightness. Underwater, she could hear the muffled sounds of screaming and crying.

The loud pop of a gunshot pierced through the quiet night air. And Yu Yan resurfaced.

Keyin was trying to hold the intruder’s arms down. A pistol glinted in one of his hands.

“Please, please! Don’t do this; don’t hurt her!” She begged the man.

“Are you with her?” The man went limp in her arms, but his voice was as furious and unforgiving as a hurricane. “Are you with her?! They killed my father! Do you know that?! And to think that you tricked me into wanting to marry you. You- you- you witch!”

Oh. The man’s face was vaguely familiar. Much like the one Yu Yan had spent most of her early years as a sea witch cursing. But not an exact replica. Keyin sure knew how to pick ‘em, didn’t she?

Keyin’s eyes found Yu Yan’s. “Go!” she yelled.

So Yu Yan dove back beneath the waves. The last thing she saw was the haunting image of Keyin being dragged off by her hair.

Yu Yan swam faster, she needed to get back to the surface as soon as possible.

Luckily, there had been a small dose of leg-potion leftover from the brew. It wouldn’t be enough to give Yu Yan legs permanently like the dose Keyin had taken. But it would suffice for around half an hour.

Once Yu Yan returned to the surface, she drained the small vial of potion. Hot heat ripped through Yu Yan’s tentacles, snapping them together and fusing them into two limbs. Her gills fluttered, but did not disappear. Oh well, no matter.

Yu Yan took a step and nearly collapsed at the sharp pain that shot through her new stems. She blinked in the haziness out of her eyes and took another step. Yu Yan felt as if she had stepped into quicksand, her leg immediately sinking lower.

Yu Yan peered down and nearly fainted at the sight. Her calf was torn down the middle, muscles barely attached to the thigh which was (thankfully) still intact. The two flaps of flesh wriggled on their own, remembering their previous state of tentacles. Then, as if sensing her gaze, the wound closed up.

The sea witch drew in a deep breath, and broke into a run.

Each footfall brought the wet squelch of tearing flesh as Yu Yan body tried to fight against the meager amounts of potion dispersed in her veins. Yu Yan shook the white spots of pain out of her line of sight and kept running.

The village was abnormally active for a rainy day. Yu Yan followed the steady trickle of people to the town square.

Keyin had her hands tied behind her to a wooden stake surrounded by firewood at the center of the crowd. As Yu Yan shoved her way to the front, she could hear the man from the pier screaming.

“-tricked me into marrying her! I saw with my own two eyes; she was plotting with the very sea witch that killed my father and all those other people! She’s a witch too! And what do we do with witches?” Yu Yan saw a dim flame flicker to life.

And before she could react, the man tossed the lighter onto the mound of firewood.

Yu Yan’s heart stopped.

But nothing happened.

The flame puttered out. The firewood was too waterlogged from the rain.

Yu Yan saw Keyin fumbling around with something in her hands. She caught a glimpse of an iridescent flash. An oyster shell. Keyin was sawing the ropes tying her wrists. The onlookers either didn’t see her trying to get loose, or didn’t care.

Most of the attention was on the man, who was raving like a lunatic about how Keyin must’ve been the one causing the rain.

“-no matter! Modern problems call for modern solutions.” The man pulled out a pistol from his waistband. Yu Yan pushed herself forward, falling onto the wet cobblestones as her legs completely gave out. Keyin gasped, as did the rest of the crowd.

The coppery scent of blood filled the air and the muscles on Yu Yan legs trembled. She lifted her head and met eyes with the son of the man that doomed her to her current state.

The intensity of the hatred in their stares was enough to blanket the entire village in tension as the onlookers held their breaths, unsure what was to come next. Yu Yan’s hands clenched into fists, and attempted to push herself up into a standing position.

Her hand slipped on the wet ground. The man laughed cruelly.

Yu Yan felt the cool moisture of the puddle beneath her cheek. Hmm, rain...water.

Yu Yan took a deep breath, focusing on the water around her, each and every drop falling from the heavens.

The raindrops halted in their tracks, suspended in the air. Without the sound of rain, the town square suddenly fell silent.

Yu Yan exhaled sharply and the water shot towards the man, all the little drops coming together to form a mini tsunami with the force of a cannon, blasting him backwards.

By then, Keyin had already gotten out of her bonds and rushed over to help Yu Yan to her feet (or at least what remained of her feet).

“Drink this,” Yu Yan passed her a vial of reversal potion.

Keyin uncorked the vial and drank its contents in one shot. Yu Yan chugged down her own vial.

The man had pulled himself up and was sloshing back towards them, shaking water out of his ears. Keyin dry heaved and shuddered. Yu Yan struggled to keep her from collapsing, while fighting down her own wave of nausea.

Behind them, a gun fired. Yu Yan felt a sharp pain in her lower back. Keyin screamed and cried out incoherently.

Yu Yan opened her mouth to comfort the mermaid, and an aching throb rippling across her chest halted the words in her throat. All that escaped was a slow trickle of blood.

Keyin’s form shimmered, and she dissolved into a puddle of water. Yu Yan looked down at her own hands. Her vision was wavering, but she couldn’t tell if it was the spell taking effect or the blood loss getting to her.

The gun fired again. But this time, it missed Yu Yan as she felt herself liquifying and returned to the ocean.

As the cool embrace of ocean water surrounded them, Yu Yan felt the effects of the leg potion trickle away and fizzle out completely. Her tentacles twitched weakly.

Yu Yan wheezed. For someone who was able to breathe both above and below water, she was doing a pretty poor job of it.

The bullet buried in her side must’ve nicked her lung or something because Yu Yan felt like she was suffocating underwater for the first time in a long time.

Keyin’s eyes were red, and Yu Yan wanted nothing more to tell her it would be fine.

Except that would’ve been a fat lie.

Yu Yan was low key dying.

The ocean around them had turned into a murky crimson, and Yu Yan could practically sense the interest of the sharks several miles away.

“What do I do? What do I do?” Keyin cried, grabbed at her hair.

Yu Yan coughed, and a spurt of blood shot out from her mouth. Not a good sign.

Keyin kissed Yu Yan desperately. In the back of Yu Yan’s mind, she knew this was neither the time nor place for this.

But in her defense, it felt nice. Like really nice.

She temporarily forgot the fact she was currently bleeding out. Even the pain thrumming deep in her bones seemed to ebb and fade, like a tide retreating.

Then, heat prickled across Yu Yan’s entire body. Not hot enough to burn, but warm enough to be uncomfortable. She pulled herself away from Keyin.

She was...glowing? The mysterious heat seemed to be mostly concentrated on her side, where she had gotten shot. Yu Yan skimmed her fingers carefully over her wound.

It had disappeared.

Yu Yan looked at Keyin, startled. “Wha- how did you- ”

She stopped.

Her voice...was different. It was still her own, but richer and more melodious. As if Yu Yan had downed several shots of liquid sunshine.

“Did it work?” Keyin asked.

Her voice was different too. Gravellier, slightly husky but in a very attractive way. Keyin gently touched her own throat. And then Yu Yan knew.

“Your voice?” she asked weakly. Yu Yan looked down at her glowing body and then back up at Keyin. “You gave your voice to save me?” This one was phrased as a statement rather than a question.

Keyin dipped her head in concession. Yu Yan reached out to cup the mermaid’s cheek. And kissed her again, arms circling Keyin, tentacles curling affectionately around the mermaid’s tail.

When they pulled apart, they could see that the sky had cleared and the sunlight was shimmering through the water around them. Search boats dotted the surface, so they had to move fast.

Yu Yan took Keyin’s hand firmly in hers.

And together, they dove into the depths of the ocean to begin their happily ever after.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stay tuned for an epilogue with our beloved seer :))


	11. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Goodbye for now

Sijian rolled out of bed at the early hour of eleven o’clock and strolled into his study to get started on his work for the day.

Not many things could surprise the seer. But a banana irritably swimming around in a fish bowl perched on his desk made Sijian do a double take.

Upon closer inspection, he realized that the thing in the fish bowl was _not_ a banana and was instead just a banana colored eel. Sijian picked up the letter sitting on his desk next to the fish bowl.

_Hey Sijian,_

_Please take care of Popcorn for a few months. Keyin and I are gonna be on the run for a while, and where we’re going is too cold to take Popcorn with us. (Would’ve asked Wenxuan but he really likes grilled eel, so no.)_

_Just play with Popcorn every so often and feed him some scraps from the dining hall once a day. To compensate you for your troubles, I also gave Wenxuan some potions to pass along to you that I thought you might like. So if you don’t see them, you know who pocketed them haha._

_Hope you’re well, see you when I see you,_

_Yu Yan_

Sijian did not see any potions lying around. He’d need to have a chat with that troublemaker with the surname Hu later.

The seer frowned as the banana eel circled around its bowl, sloshing water all over the desk. There was a knock at the doorway (he didn’t have a door).

“Enter.”

The curtain over the entrance of the study lifted and haggard looking Yao Mingming walked in.

The seer tsked and motioned for the head guard to have a seat. Sijian plopped down in his own chair and tried not to smile.

Love was never easy at the start.

But it certainly made life interesting, didn’t it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was super indecisive throughout the length of the Cloud9 fest to be honest, I kept flip-flopping between 2 prompts. But in the end, I'm happy that I got to complete another addition to my West Kingdom series. Sad news though, this series will probably be taking a small break in the new year as I've joined a couple of other fests and have lots of other ideas I've shelved to complete this one. The first chapter of the Markhyuck fic that I've been working on will be posted later this week and most likely turn into it's own series. I'm super excited >o<
> 
> Thank you guys so much for taking the time to read my writing and leaving kind comments  
> And I hope you'll enjoy my future works as well :))


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